The eurozone's star performer is showing every other European economy how it's done

Spanish bullfighter Manuel Escribano during the last bullfight of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 14.
REUTERS/Susana Vera
Spain's economy had another solid quarter between April and June, with a 1% growth spurt, according to figures just released.

That's bang on what analysts were expecting, and it means the economy has grown 3.1% since the same period last year.

That's the best figure for the country since 2007, before both the financial crisis in 2008 and the euro crisis that began in 2010.

Growth of 3.1% may not seem like all that much, but in the context of the eurozone, that's pretty rapid. It is what has made Spain, a former crisis country in which unemployment is still eye-wateringly high, Europe's star performer.

Its growth rate is better even than the United Kingdom's.

Here's a chart from Capital Economics showing just how the country has bounced back:

Capital Economics

Unlike other countries in Southern Europe, Spain is credited with bringing in a solid reform programme, especially in liberalising its labour market.

But that's not the only cause of the country's revival — the French investment bank Natixis has pointed out how much of the eurozone's recent (but modest) growth spurt is due to the effect of oil prices and the weaker euro.

In fact, the bank's analysts say Italy would still be in recession, France would still be stagnant, and even Germany would barely have grown at all without those dual stimulants.